Clay working and conditioning



Feb. 21, 1933. w. ASCHE 1,898,333

CLAY WORKING AND CONDITIONING Filed Nov. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

WALTER A$CH BY 77 A TTORNEY.

Feb. 21, 1933. w. ASCHE CLAY WORKING AND CONDITIONING 2 Sheets-Sheefi Filed NOV. 19, 1931 INVENTOR.

ORNEY;

WALTER ASCHE MW ATT Patented Feb. 21, 1933 PATENT OFFICE WALTER ASGHE, or ST. GEORGE, new YORK CLAY WORKING AND CONDITIONING Application filed November 19, 1931. Serial No.576, 086.

This invention concerns the means for and the method of dosing the common soft raw material,clay for 1nstance,wh1ch is used in the manufacture of bricks, with a fuel, a reducing agent like ground coke in a solid form of fine grain. Attention has been given primarily to the object of suitablyintroducing the correct and necessary quantity of fuel into different clays, which are of poor or medium quality; the thoroughly mixed clay and fuel yield a stone during the firing process which has a much greater average quality than was heretofore obtained. Aside from a F greater resistivity such a stone has a compressive strength two or three times that of the ordinary stone, so that it approaches the strength of a clinker.

The preferred fuel, which I choose as an ingredient in my method is coke of a fine grain. Its reducing action during the firing process renders harmless the undesirable 1ngredients present in most common clay, such as calcium oxide, gypsum and sulphide, which bring about the dreaded sweating or bloom ing of the stone involving decomposition and eventual brittleness. I introduce only so much of the fuel as necessary for a complete firing of the stone, without bringing about porosity in the product.

Every stone, which has been intimately dosed with the reducing fuel, represents a small furnace by itself. The reduction during the firing process is exothermically prop agated from the outside of the brick to the very core thereof. The above mentioned harmful ingredients are completely evaporated so that the stone is cured throughout to clinker hardness.

Correct proportioning of the conditioning ingredients introduced into the brick is therefore a vital object of this invention; I provide dosing means, which, in combination with the known elements of clay working mapresses, introduce into measured volumes of clay corresponding doses of fuel. 'The quantity of fuel introduced, which is substantially homogeneously admixed to the clay, determines the qualities of the final product, a good brick for instance.

chinery, like crushers, rollers, mixers and The introduction of an excessive volume of fuel would bring about sintering to a point of brittleness. Insufiicient fuel would prevent an i even. and thorough curing and firing,

whereas proper dosing procures the greatest strength and an unlimited life of the products. i

Another object of this invention is to enhance economy of .fuel consumption in the firing furnace, bringing about a increase in efficiency. Since by my means and method the fuel is intimately admixed to the clay, the evenly dispersed fuel is ignited in the furnace at a temperature of 450 oentigrade, and then takes place an even, exothermical heating of the stone to wide heat, to a temperature of 1000 centigrade. When a correspondingly strong draft is used, the fire in the oven is propagated much faster than when the coal or fuel gases pass over the surface of the stone. The firing from the outside may be limited to a low heat igniting the front row of stones, the balance of the stones igniting themselves, heating each of the stones to a wide heart above the 1000 centigrade. The

resulting ware is of best quality and may be applied to a great variety of uses. The uniform quality of theproduct of my invention provesto be an important factor in its marketability.

. In the specification, I describe my invention in relation to the largest specific field of the clay working art, the brick manufacture, and illustrate it by means of an exemplary showing of brick making machinery, in which Fig. 1 shows a partly sectioned front elevation of such machinery.

Fig. 2 shows a corresponding side view.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the plant, a duplex arrangement, in a sectioned front View. V

Fig. 4 shows a sectional side view of the respective pugging mill.

Fig. 5' shows, in a partly sectioned, sectional side view, the means introducing the conditioning ingredients.

Fig. 6 shows a corresponding enlarged, partly sectioned end view. The top door is closed.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various views.

From a wet clay pan mill or from a suitable grinder or crusher, the clay material is either directly fed into the machinery of my drawings, or fed thereto by a worm clay feeding machine or a spiral conveyor 11, which ends above the trough 12 and discharges the clay material thereinto.

In Figs. 1 and 2 such a conveyor is disposed transversely to my machinery, whereas it is longitudinally disposed in Fig. 3. The trough 12 is exemplarily shown to comprise the slanted sides 13, whereas the front and rear thereof are confronted by substantially vertical walls 14. These walls 14 extend downwardly from the trough, and also confront the ends of the rolling mills 15, 16. The rolling mills substantially close the bottom of trough 12. They are adjustable towards and away from each other, and are placed sufficiently close together, in order substantially to close the trough downwardly, between them. The rollers 15 and 16 are op positely rotatably,clockwise and counter clockwise respectively,journalled upon the sides 17 and 18 of the frame and are provided with sets of tight and loose driving pulleys 19 and 20, respectively. By means of these pulleys, or by means of meshing gears, they are rotated at a synchronous speed, so that they downwardly feed, between each other, the clay material, through the square opening formed by the end walls 14 and the rollers 15 and 16, where said rollers come closely to gether.

The rollers 15 and 16 are set at such a distance, that, in conformity with the consistency, of the clay material, they feed the samewhile crushing large parts thereof-in form of a ribbon 21, of a substantially uniform rectangular cross-section, and at a linear speed corresponding substantially to the circumferential speed at which said rollers rotate.

Alongside of the roller 16 (Fig. 1), or alongside'of the rollers 15 and 16, Fig. 3, I provide a hopper or hoppers 22 which serve to receive the conditioning ingredients 23. In order to maintain a substantially uniform pressure head on the ingredients 23, means may be provided for to keep these hoppers filled at all times to a certain level with said ingredients, or to keep them completely filled as indicated in Fig. 3. The hoppers are supported by and extending substantially between the frames 17 and 18; their width is therefore substantially equal to the width of the rollers 15 and 16. Downwardly, at their lower ends, the hoppers 22 are closed by trap doors 24. These doors comprise sets of transverse slides 25 which are provided with racks 26 upon their sides. These racks are engaged upon by pinions 27, mounted upon brackets 28 extending from the hoppers, said pinions being angularly adjustable by means of hand wheels 29. Angular adjustment of the pinions will more or less open the trap door 24 at the bottom of the hoppers, so that more or less of the ingredients 23 may adjustably be released therefrom, onto chutes 34, which angularly downwardly extend from the slides 25 of the trap doors 24.

The chutes 34 are directed towards the band 21. They either release the ingredients 23 directly onto the band 21 issuing from between the rollers 15 and 16. Or, as shown in the drawings, they issue onto rollers 37 and 38 (Fig. 3) or into the mixer 30, which is disposed below the rolling mills 15 and 16, and in which the ingredient 23 and the material of the band 21 are thoroughly mixed and kneaded, (Fig. 1).

Whereas the trap door device of the hopper 22 may be relied upon uniformly to deliver the ingredient 23, and-uniformly to distribute it over the whole width of said hopper, when the ingredient 23 is of such uniform and fine consistency, that it flows as or like a liquid, it may be necessary, in order to procure, in dosing, an absolutely even feed of the ingredient over the whole width of my apparatus and to the exact width of band 21, an auxiliary, more positive feeding and distributing means may be incorporated in the mechanism. Such means are exemplarily shown,-in each of the hoppers, in the angular lower parts thereof and substantially blocking the same,by the rotating hopper element 31. It is rotatably supported between the frames 17 and 18, and driven by a sprocket and chain drive 32 from the shaft of the roller 15 or 16. Upon its shaft 33 are arranged a plurality of elements 35 each of which comprise a sleeve, from which radially extend one or more plates 36. These plates are substantially uniformly spaced around the said sleeves and they substantially close the hopper towards the end of the trap door 24, at which said trap door is adapted to open. A plurality of these elements 35 are offsettedly arranged alongside of each other on each of the shafts 33, as shown in Fig. 5, so that they overlappingly, in predetermined rotation, engage the whole width of the material 23 accommodated in hopper 22, and sweep or feed the same, in complementarily aggregative fashion, uniformly through the slit in front of slide 25.

From the kneader or mixer 30, the homogeneously mixed material drops, in the modification of Fig. 1, between two fine rolling mills 37 and 38, which are synchronously driven in opposite directions, and which deliver the material to the auger 39, at the front 40 of which is mounted the die. The clay pressed out of said die is suitably cut to the shape of bricks.

In the view of Fig. 3, the band 21, upon the width of which the material 23 delivered from the hopper 22 is Uniformly dispersed, issues in between the rolling mills 37 and 38, from which the clay material is fed into the pugging mill 41.

a The drives of the conveyors 11, the rolling mills 15 and 16, the hopping elements 31, the kneader or mixer 30, the fine rolling mills 37, 38, and of the auger 40, or the pugging mill 41, are suitably coordinated so as to work upon or to feed the respective materials under suitable pressure and at coordinated speeds.

. While I have shown and described my i11- vention with some degree of particularity, it will be realized that other modifications and changes may be resorted to under special conditions. I therefore do not wish to be limited and restricted to the exact details shown and described but reserve the right to make such changes and modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the subject matter now being claimed.

I claim:

1. The method of dosing clay, comprising feeding the clay in a continuous band of predetermined cross-sections, feeding the material, which said clay is to be dosed with at a uniform flow, continuously spreading said material over said band, and mixing said spread material into the clay of said band.

2. The method of dosing clay, comprising feeding the clay in a continuous band of predetermined cross-sections, feeding the material, which said clay is to be dosed with at a uniform flow, continuously spreading said material over said band, and kneading said spread material into the clay of said band,

3. Clay dosing means, comprising means delivering a uniformly cross-sectioned traveling band of clay, a container opening onto said band and continuously issuing a uniform flow of clay conditioning material onto said band, and means working said material into the clay of said band.

4. Clay dosing means comprising means delivering a uniformly cross-sectioned traveling band of clay, a hopper continuously issuing a uniform flow of clay conditioning material onto said band, and means working said material into the clay of said band.

5. Clay dosing means, comprising a troiwh for clay rollers confronting the outlet of said trough and delivering therefrom, when rotated, a uniformly cross-sectioned traveling band of clay, a container opening onto said band and continuously issuing a uniform flow of clay conditioning material onto said band, and means working said material into the clay of said band.

6. Clay dosing means, comprising a trough for clay, rollers confronting the outlet of said trough and delivering therefrom, when rotated, a uniformly cross-sectioned traveling band of clay, a hopper continuously issuing a uniform flow of clay conditioning material onto said band, and means working said material into the clay of said band.

7. Clay dosing means, comprising a trough for clay, rollers confronting the outlet of said trough and delivering therefrom, when rotated, a uniformly cross-sectioned traveling band of clay, means continuously issuing a uniform flow of clay conditioning material onto said band, and a set of rollers receiving said clay and said material and pressing said material into said clay.

8. In combination with a shaping mill and means supplying clay at a fixed rate of delivery to said mill, means interposed between said means and said mill, issuing upon said clay passing to said mill and supplying clay conditioning material at afixed rate of delivery.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WVALTER ASCHE. 

